A woman by the name of Erwiana Sulistyaningsih from Indonesia, worked as a maid in Hong Kong. She had worked for Law Wan-tung who had repeatedly abused her. Erwiana suffered with malnutrition and physical abuse such as being punched or hit with different objects including a vacuum which had injured her lips. She was unable to tell anyone about the abuse because Law Wan-tung had threatened to kill her family if she did. The case drew in a lot of attention when Erwiana returned to Indonesia in need of medical attention. Hong Kong employs about 300,000 maids from other parts of Asia which brought upon intense scrutiny to this case because there are laws to protect maids and keep them safe but this clearly isn't working. Law Wan-tung constantly denied the abuse and even her attorney accused Erwiana as a liar. They argued that Erwiana was bruised up because of her clumsiness instead. Nonetheless, Law was found guilty of 18 out of 20 charges. Migrant workers are now protesting in Hong Kong because abuse towards maids has always been an issue but never given the proper attention. It is very important that Hong Kong authorities take action and realize the amount of abuse maids or other migrant workers may experience that need to be stopped. As for now Erwiana is very pleased with the charges Law received and is now recuperating with her family in Indonesia.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-31340638
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